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There is no reader question this week. Helena has a topic she’d like to address.
You may be the type of drinker who scorns vodka for a good bourbon and is happy to wait several minutes while your bartender chips away just the right-shaped ice for your cocktail. But not everyone is so enlightened. From talking to bartenders, I’ve learned that many patrons still don’t quite know what or how to order when confronted with a menu of fancy drinks. They’re baffled when, say, a revival tiki bar doesn’t stock cranberry juice, and they get impatient when their drink takes minutes rather than seconds to make. So how can a mixologist politely manage customers’ expectations without making them feel like cocktail ignoramuses?
1. Do some handholding.
Artisan cocktail bars can make people uncomfortable initially, says Toby Malone, partner in the Violet Hour bar in Chicago and Alchemy Consulting. “It’s an intimidating experience if you look at the back bar and don’t recognize many of the bottles. ... Intimidation leads to anxiety, and then the customer is mean because they don’t understand what’s going on.”
Handing the person a menu with explanations of unfamiliar terms helps, says Martin Cate, owner of the San Francisco tiki bar Smuggler’s Cove. If necessary, the bartender should ask probing questions to elicit the person’s taste, the same way a sommelier might, says Malone, such as: “Do you like sweet or tart; do you prefer something stirred or something shaken and effervescent?”
2. Don’t scorn a customer’s vodka choice.
It’s common for customers to ask for ingredients a bar doesn’t stock, say all the mixologists I interviewed, such as a particular vodka brand. “It’s the billboard mentality,” says Jason Kosmas, general manager and principal bartender of the Neighborhood Services Tavern in Dallas. “People think if they’ve seen it on a billboard you ought to stock it in the bar.” At Employees Only in New York City, where Kosmas worked until recently, “a bunch of banker types came in, guys’ guys. By 7:30 they were drunk.” One of them ordered a Red Bull and refused to believe that Kosmas didn’t carry it. “He was like, ‘My friend’s dying over here.’ Like in his mind I have an emergency can of Red Bull in a glass case that says ‘Break in case of douchebag.’”
Instead of explaining at length why you don’t stock something, focus on what you do have, says Cate. “Our approach is to offer an alternative, like, instead of a Red Bull and vodka, ‘I can make a great Cuba Libre with high-quality rum and an artisanal cola made with real botanicals.’”
3. Be honest about the wait.
Artisanal cocktails are usually labor-intensive. They may have a lot of ingredients. Plus, says Malone, “if the bartender is measuring everything properly and cracking the proper amount of ice … it takes time.” It’s always easier to wait if you’re expecting it and you know how long the wait will be. Cate tells people, “Please bear with us, this will take a few moments.” He adds that it helps to take the customer’s order immediately so he knows you’re not ignoring him. At the risk of sounding like an alcoholic, I will pass on Malone’s tip for those who are feeling particularly thirsty: “Order a shot or a beer to have while you’re waiting.”
4. Ditch the attitude.
Cate points out that sometimes crafting a drink with excessive care “comes from a place of ego. It’s like, ‘I’m creating art, and you can’t rush art.’” So whenever they can, mixologists need to create a menu they can execute as quickly as possible by prepping syrups, purées, and cordials in advance.
Let’s face it: Even if it has nine ingredients, including two kinds of rum and house-made bitters, it’s still just a drink.
in a crowded bar on a Saturday night, facing a lone barkeep, only a jerk would order an 18 step drink, that's for Wednesday night.
If the 'fancypants' wanted BAs and didn't get them (out of cream or not) they weren't going to "tip Big". DUH!
Sorry, not flaming, just read your own story. People want what they want, appro for the venue or not. I like gin and tonic in the coldest part of the winter, just to remind myself that it WILL warm up again. The BA drinkers may have wanted to have a social event, not necessarily wanting...+READ
If the 'fancypants' wanted BAs and didn't get them (out of cream or not) they weren't going to "tip Big". DUH!
Sorry, not flaming, just read your own story. People want what they want, appro for the venue or not. I like gin and tonic in the coldest part of the winter, just to remind myself that it WILL warm up again. The BA drinkers may have wanted to have a social event, not necessarily wanting to watch football, but it was there, and they were there...yada yada yada.-COLLAPSE
In my experience, bartenders and mixologists are not the same. And as jeanmarieok posted above, it helps to know which kind of venue you are in. A mixologist will take a long time to serve you an expensive drink that may be the best thing you've ever tasted, but don't expect much personality from them; they've got too much on their plate, even when it's not busy. A bartender won't take the time...+READ
In my experience, bartenders and mixologists are not the same. And as jeanmarieok posted above, it helps to know which kind of venue you are in. A mixologist will take a long time to serve you an expensive drink that may be the best thing you've ever tasted, but don't expect much personality from them; they've got too much on their plate, even when it's not busy. A bartender won't take the time to make a drink with more then three ingredients, but will get it to you lightning quick. If it's not too busy, he/she can also be a shoulder to cry on/confidant/fount of local knowledge.
In either case, if the place is hoppin', you wont get a chance to talk with them much. Gotta get them drinks out!-COLLAPSE
So I guess our 50 min wait for our drinks last weekend is acceptable?
Ever so slightly off topic - a friend of mine is a bartender in the private boxes at a major league ball park. He had a bunch of people asking for brandy Alexanders one Sunday, (at a football game?!) and said after each bartender had made them one round, they told the patrons they were out of cream, and skipped over them, going for the guys yelling '4 Bud lights'. And these fancy drink folks...+READ
Ever so slightly off topic - a friend of mine is a bartender in the private boxes at a major league ball park. He had a bunch of people asking for brandy Alexanders one Sunday, (at a football game?!) and said after each bartender had made them one round, they told the patrons they were out of cream, and skipped over them, going for the guys yelling '4 Bud lights'. And these fancy drink folks tipped a measley dollar or two, while the beer drinkers tipped big.
Moral of the story from my bartender friend -drink what is appropriate for the venue, and you'll get better service.-COLLAPSE
We really cant complain if no one is sending in questions. How can an entire week go by and not a single question gets submitted.
Barryg, you are right on. Who is this writer and how can she be so disconnected?
RC. Very Funny.
barryg: I think she's running out of topics to discuss after the years of etiquette dispensing. After the niceties of backyard chicken farming, what's left, really?
Since when is Red Bull a vodka?
Huh. Another week without letters?
there are places where bartenders cracks ice? Like, off of an ice block?
Is it just me or are these columns getting way to esoteric? Outside of big cities, these kinds of bars do not exist, and within big cities is a small cachet of people that really worry or care about how to break it to somebody that they only carry artisan cola (is that like RC?).
Well, at least Helena didn't advise the bartenders to lie to the customers about what ingredients they put in their drinks.
Yes. Sometimes it is just a drink. I have definitely gotten the sigh and eyeroll for asking about some new-hippest-thing or house-made item without a description. If I should interest in your product, it's a good thing you should encourage! I hauled myself out to Brooklyn to see friends not get attitude from a waif with a gross beard.
The "well, we do have this..." suggestion is a solid one. I...+READ
Yes. Sometimes it is just a drink. I have definitely gotten the sigh and eyeroll for asking about some new-hippest-thing or house-made item without a description. If I should interest in your product, it's a good thing you should encourage! I hauled myself out to Brooklyn to see friends not get attitude from a waif with a gross beard.
The "well, we do have this..." suggestion is a solid one. I remember being out on a date and my date was stymied as to what he should order and the bartender quickly jumped in to offer his special drink. I dont remember what he called it, but the drink was a grasshopper. Sadly, the bartender saving the moment was the only class part of that date, but I digress.-COLLAPSE